Multnomah County, Oregon
Multnomah County ( ) is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Though smallest in area, it is the most populous as its county seat, Portland, is the state's largest city. In 2010, the county's population was 735,334. The county was likely named after Native American people first recorded in the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Mulknomans, who lived in a village on the east side of present-day Sauvie Island. (An alternative theory holds that Multnomah is a corruption of nematlnomaq, meaning down river.) History Multnomah County (the thirteenth in Oregon Territory) was created on December 22, 1854, formed out of the eastern part of Washington and the northern part of Clackamas counties. Its creation was a result of a petition earlier that year by businessmen in Portland complaining of the inconvenient location of the Washington County seat in Hillsboro and of the share of Portland tax revenues leaving the city to support Washington County farmers. County commissioners met for the first time on January 17, 1855. According to an Oregonian article, the entire county council was recalled in 1924. There has long been a movement to merge the county with the city of Portland. In 1968, the Oregon Legislative Assembly referred a bill, Ballot Measure 5, to voters that would amend the state constitution to allow for consolidated city-county governments when the population is over 300,000. The 1968 voters' pamphlet noted that Multnomah County would be the only county in Oregon affected by the measure and voters approved the referendum in the 1968 general election. Since the approval of Measure 5 in 1968, an initiative to merge the county with Portland has been considered and placed on the county ballot several times. The merger would have formed a consolidated city-county government like that of San Francisco, California. None of these proposals has been approved. Since 2000 In the 2000 presidential election, Multnomah played a decisive role in determining the winner of the state's electoral votes. Al Gore carried the county by more than 104,000 votes, enough to offset the nearly 100,000-vote advantage that George W. Bush had earned among Oregon's 35 other counties. The Democratic tilt was repeated in 2004, when John Kerry won by 181,000 votes, and in 2008 when Barack Obama won by 204,000 votes. In February 2001, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Library Advisory Board and authorized the library to enter into a lawsuit to stop the Children's Internet Protection Act. The US Supreme Court ultimately decided in 2003 that the law was constitutional in US v. ALA. However, the library chose to turn down $104,000 per year of federal funding under CIPA to be able to continue to offer unfiltered Internet access. Faced with decreasing government revenues due to a recession in the local economy, voters approved a three-year local income tax (Measure 26-48) on May 20, 2003 to prevent further cuts in schools, police protection, and social services. Multnomah County was one of the few local governments in Oregon to approve such a tax increase. On March 2, 2004, Multnomah County Chair Linn announced the county would begin granting licenses for same-sex marriages, pursuant to a legal opinion issued by its attorney deeming such marriages lawful under Oregon law. Her announcement was supported by three other commissioners (Serena Cruz, Lisa Naito & Maria Rojo de Steffey), but criticized by Lonnie Roberts, who represents the eastern part of Multnomah county and was left out of the decision. Within a few days, several groups joined to file a lawsuit to halt the county's action; see Same-sex unions in Oregon. Law and government ; Elected Officials * County Commission (one chair, four commissioners; nonpartisan) **Chair: Jeff Cogen http://www.multco.us/chair **Commissioner, District 1: Deborah Kafoury **Commissioner, District 2: Loretta Smith **Commissioner, District 3: Judy Shiprack **Commissioner, District 4: Diane McKeel * District Attorney: Michael Schrunk * Sheriff: Dan Staton * Auditor: Steve March * Circuit Court ; Appointed Officials * Elections: Tim Scott * Finance: Mindy Harris * Surveyor: Robert Hovden ; Map of Multnomah County legislative districts Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 466 square miles (1,206 km²), of which 435 square miles (1,127 km²) are land and (6.53%) are water. The county includes a number of extinct volcanoes in the Boring Lava Field. The Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge forms the eastern portion of the county's northern border. Major highways * Interstate 5 * Interstate 84 * Interstate 205 * Interstate 405 * U.S. Route 26 * U.S. Route 30 * U.S. Route 99 (decommissioned) Adjacent counties *Clark County, Washington, across the Columbia River - north *Skamania County, Washington, across the Columbia River - northeast *Hood River County, Oregon - east *Clackamas County, Oregon - south *Washington County, Oregon - west *Columbia County, Oregon - northwest National protected area *Mount Hood National Forest (part) Economy The principal industries of Multnomah County are manufacturing, transportation, wholesale and retail trade, and tourism. Since Oregon does not have a sales tax, it attracts shoppers from southwest Washington. The Port of Portland, established in 1891 and combined with the City of Portland's Commission of Public Docks in 1971, ranks third in total waterborne commerce on the West Coast, and 31st in the nation for total tonnage according to the 2009 American Association of Port Authorities' Port Industries Statistics. Portland is one of the five largest auto import ports in the nation and is the West Coast's leading exporter of grain and lumber. The Port of Portland is also responsible for Portland International Airport in the Northeast section of Portland, the Troutdale Airport a few miles east of PDX in Multnomah County, the Hillsboro Airport to the west in Washington County, and Mulino Airport to the south in Clackamas County. The Multnomah County Library has a small impact on the county budget: the county library, which supplies Internet service to area libraries, turns down $104,000 per year in federal funding starting in 2004, to obviate the need to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act so as to maintain unfiltered Internet access. Tourism The county is home to a number of Portland-area attractions and venues, including Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland Art Museum, Memorial Coliseum, Oregon Convention Center, Rose Garden, Washington Park, Oregon Zoo, International Rose Test Garden, Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Portland Japanese Garden, and Pittock Mansion. It is also home to the Historic Columbia River Highway, Multnomah Falls, and Oxbow Regional Park. Cultural influence The county was the birthplace of the Multnomah Community Ability Scale, used in mental health programs throughout the U.S. Demographics http://factfinder2.census.gov |}} As of the 2000 census, there are 660,486 people in the county, organized into 272,098 households and 152,102 families. The population density is 1,518 people per square mile (586/km²). There are 288,561 housing units at an average density of 663 per square mile (256/km²). The racial makeup of the county is 79.16% White, 5.70% Asian, 5.67% Black or African American, 1.03% Native American, 0.35% Pacific Islander, 4.03% from other races, and 4.07% from two or more races. 7.51% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.0% were of German, 9.0% English, 8.8% Irish and 5.1% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 83.5% spoke English, 6.3% Spanish, 1.7% Vietnamese and 1.3% Russian as their first language. There are 272,098 households out of which 26.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% are married couples living together, 10.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.1% are non-families. 32.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 3.03. In the county, the population is spread out with 22.30% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 33.80% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.10 males. The median income for a household in the county is $41,278, and the median income for a family is $51,118. Males have a median income of $36,036 versus $29,337 for females. The per capita income for the county is $22,606. 12.70% of the population and 8.20% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 15.40% of those under the age of 18 and 9.80% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Communities Cities *Fairview *Gresham *Lake Oswego (small portion, most in Clackamas County) http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/engineer/maps/LO_CompPlan.pdf *Maywood Park *Portland *Troutdale *Wood Village Unincorporated communities *Bonneville *Corbett *Dodson *Dunthorpe *Holbrook *Latourell *Orient *Riverwood *Springdale *Warrendale See also *List of counties in Oregon *Multnomah County Sheriff's Office *Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue *Multnomah County, Oregon election, 2006 *National Register of Historic Places listings in Multnomah County, Oregon *Portland metropolitan area *Vanport References External links *Multnomah County *Multnomah County Library web site *Multnomah County History from the Oregon State Archives Category:Multnomah County, Oregon Category:Established in 1854 Category:Counties of Oregon Category:Columbia River Gorge Category:Portland metropolitan area